The Walls of Edessa
These are remnants of the walls
that surrounded the ancient city of Edessa. This is an opening in
the wall where a gate would have been built.
It was a practice in ancient cities
of the Middle East area to mount a stone tile with a picture of
some favored deity above the city’s main gate. We know that the
cloth of Edessa bearing an image, thought to be an image of Jesus,
was found hidden above the gate ca. 544 CE. It is possilbe that
the cloth had been hidden to protect it during times of Christian
persecutions. We know that during the many persecutions of the
first three centuries, valuable relics, writings, and ceremonial
items of the church were routinely destroyed. There is evidence of
local persecutions in Edessa as early as the latter part of the
first century and of Roman persecutions that persisted until the
time of Emperor Constantine. If, in fact, the cloth was taken to
Edessa in the early part of the first century, it might have been
hidden for protection as early as the reign of Ma’nu VI, Abgar’s
son, who is thought to have reverted to paganism following his
father's acceptance of Christianity.
See:
The Mozarabic Rite and Ancient
History of the Shroud of Turin
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